Distributed Multiproject Resource Control: A Market-Based Approach

The multiple project resource-scheduling problems extend job-shop scheduling problems by allowing for task dependency and multiple entities trying to maximize their own requirements fulfillment. In this paper we deal with decentralized scheduling of resources, which are shared by multiple projects. In specific, we address the dynamic nature of the situation. We model this as a virtual economy (entities as buyers and sellers of resources), where the “resource-time slots” (resource availability over a given time) are traded as goods. Due to the dynamic and distributed nature of the economy, through our approach we achieve higher levels of flexibility and scalability. In this paper, we discuss our virtual economy model and the market mechanism along with empirical analysis and results.